Senegal violence

This item appears on page 18 of the March 2018 issue.

At least 14 people, identified as teenagers, were killed in the Casamance region of southern Senegal on Jan. 6 as they gathered firewood. An additional seven people were injured in the attack. Authorities arrested 24 for the attack.

It is not known why the victims were targeted, but authorities believe it involved members of the pro-independence rebel group Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), which operates in the region. MFDC has remained largely peaceful since a cease-fire agreement in 2014.

On Jan. 26, a group of four Spanish tourists being driven through Casamance were stopped at an improvised road block by armed men, then were robbed and the women sexually assaulted.